Support for scaffold ledger-boards



(No Model.)

J F OAUFIELD SUPPORT FOR SOAFPOLD LEDGER BOARDS.

No. 595,604. Patented D60. 14, 1897.

iii/5055555 M UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN FRANCIS CAUFIELD, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT.

SUPPORT FOR SCAFFOLD LEDGER-BOARDS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 595,604, dated December 14, 1897.

Application filed March 9, 1897. Serial No. 626,598. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, JOHN FRANCIS CAU- FIELD, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Britain, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Supports for Scafiold Ledger-Boards, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in ledger-board supports; and the main object of my improvement is to furnish a simple and convenient support for ledger-boards that wholly dispenses with the use of nails, whereby a great saving of the boards and uprights is efiected.

In theaccompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of my support as secured upon an upright and with a ledger-board in vertical section. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view of the same, the upright being shown in horizontal section. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a portion of the same; and Fig. 4 is a partial side elevation of my support as adjusted for receiving two thicknesses of ledger-boards with their ends lapped one upon the other said boards being shown in vertical section. A designates one of the uprights of a seat fold or staging, and B the ledger-boards,which are secured to the uprights and extend parallel to the side of the building.

I employ a pair of bracket straps or plates 5 5, having holes near their ends for the reception of bolts 6, by means of which the said bracket-plates may be firmly secured to the uprights at any desired height. The bolts are arranged far enough from each other to pass along by the front and rear of the uprights,while the plates lie by the sides thereof, the combined bolts and plates thus surrounding the uprights without making any holes therein. I also prefer to set the bolts so far apart that when the bolts rest upon the front Fig. 1, but this is not essential.

lower ends of which are hinged to the plates on the pivot-pins 9, and their upper ends are provided with some means for securing them to the upright independently of the means by which said bracket-plates are secured to the uprights. A convenient means for so doing is a chain 10, secured to the upper end of the arm '7, passed around the upright and then hooked to the upper end of the companion arm 8 by placing one of the links of the chain in a slot 11 in the upper end of said arm. In order to bring the slot 11 into the best position relatively to the chain, I prefer to twist the upper end of the arm 8 and bend it slightly forward somewhat similar to the claw of a hammer, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 3. For the purpose of holding only one thickness of ledger-boards these arms might be pivoted or hinged by round holes in the ordinary manner of securing hinge-pintles; but in order to accommodate either one or two thicknesses I arrange the pivot-pins in curved slots 12, the inner ends of which slots are at the proper point for holding one thickness of board, as

in Fig. 1, and the outer end at the proper distance for holding two thicknesses of board. The pins are headed at each end and may thus be slipped along from end to end of the curved slots, so that where the ends of the ledger-boards lap the arms may have the pivot-pins moved to the outer ends of the curved slots, as shown in Fig. 4. In either position the arms will rest in place substantially the same as if pivoted in a round hole instead of in the elongated hole or slot.

It will readily be seen that the supports may be secured at any desired position on the uprights and that theywill firmly secure the ledger-boards thereto without the use of nails,

whereby the boards and uprights will both last to be used repeatedly instead of being soon split up and destroyed, as they are when nails are used to secure the ledger-boards to the uprights.

I claim as my invention- 1. The bracket-plates 5, 5, arranged in pairs and having projecting ends 13 provided with ledger-board-supporting seats, bolts 6 for securing said bracket-plates to the uprights, the holding-arms 7 8, secured by their lower ends to the projecting ends 13 of said bracketplates, and the chain 10 for securing the upper ends of said holding-arms in place, substantially as described.

2. A ledger-board-supporting bracket having a seat for the lower edge of the ledgerboards, means for securing the same to an upright, a holding-arm for extending across that broad face of the ledger-board which is farthest from the upright, the lower end of said holding-arm being secured to the said supporting-bracket While the upper end of said arm that projects above the top edge of the said ledger-board is provided with independent means for holding said arm to said upright, substantially as described.

3. The pair of clamping bracket-plates having holding-arms hinged to theirbracket ends, said ends being provided with the curved slot for adjusting the said hinged arms for one or two thicknesses of board by moving the pivotpin to the respective ends of said slots, substantially as described.

4. The pair of clamping bracket-plateshavin g holding-arms hinged to their bracket ends, a fastening-chain secured to one of said arms by one end and the companion arm having the slot 11 for receiving and holding the other end of said chain substantially as described.

JOHN FRANCIS OAUFIELD.

\Vitnesses:

W. L. DAMON, H. U. DAMON. 

